Public Service Ethos Research Articles

“An Algorithm for Public Service Media?” Embedding Public Service Values in the News Recommender System on RTBF's Platform

In a rapidly evolving digital landscape, public service media (PSM) face a significant challenge: how to leverage recommendation algorithms to enhance their visibility and attractiveness without sacrificing their core values. This study examines the extent to which the Belgian Radio-Television of the French Community (RTBF) has integrated PSM values into the development of a recommender system for news articles on its platform (rtbf.be). The research highlights a conscientious effort to define and translate PSM values before the algorithm design phase, both inside and outside the organization. However, the study also reveals limitations that hinder the full realization of PSM values within the recommender system. Consequently, these values currently function more as abstract guiding principles and communication tools than tangible technical features. The study emphasizes the challenge of reconciling public service ethos with algorithmic realities and concludes by highlighting the need for further empirical research to bridge this gap in the digital age.

Building Resilience, Agility, and Trust: The Neo-Weberian State as a Referential Model for Brazilian Public Administration

The paper explores the challenges and potential solutions for enhancing Brazilian public administration through the lens of the Neo-Weberian State (NWS) model. It discusses the historical context of Brazil’s public administration, highlighting the coexistence of different administrative mechanisms and the need for a stable, resilient, and agile bureaucracy to address contemporary societal challenges effectively. The article advocates for a paradigmatic shift toward a more coordinated, inclusive, and socially driven public sector, emphasizing the importance of hierarchical mechanisms and public service ethos in safeguarding democracy and resisting illiberal political agendas. By analyzing the trajectory of public administration reforms in Brazil and comparing them to global challenges, the essay underscores the NWS’s potential to bring legitimacy and effectiveness to state actions, ultimately aiming to restore trust in public administration and strengthen democratic governance in Brazil.

The Pitfalls of a Popular Concept: Co-Production in Times of Individualization, Marketization, and De-Politicization

Co-production between public administrators and citizens has attracted renewed interest in recent years. Co-production is predominantly perceived as something desirable and is claimed to improve service efficiency and outcome and user satisfaction, at the same time as addressing democratic ideals. Drawing from interviews with public administrators and patients in a Swedish healthcare context, this paper seeks to nuance the often overly positive notion of co-production by understanding these micro-level practices as being embedded in a macro-level societal context. Theorizing the empirical material based on three features of contemporary society – individualization, marketization, and de-politicization – we argue that co-production risks placing a burden and responsibility on individual users and creating a (welfare)market in which better-off people are recruited and benefitted. In this sense, co-production may consolidate or reinforce inequalities. Through de-politicization, political issues may appear as value-free; however, as long as market-logics prevail, the welfare system and practices of co-production will, in some respects, be impotent to address crucial societal issues. Co-production as a collective practice targeting democratic standards is called for, rather than an efficiency focus, preferably by taking the recruitment of those in the greatest need seriously – scaffolded by a revitalized public service ethos of public administrators and their organizations.

Creating a public service topology: Mapping public service motivation, public service ethos, and public service values

AbstractPublic service motivation (PSM), public service values (PSV), and public service ethos (PSE), we argue, constitute theoretically complementary dimensions of public service psychology. Using multi‐dimensional scaling (MDS), we also empirically map the three constructs to identify their interrelationships as constituent parts of a public service topology. Using a survey of public and private employees, we determined which of the PSM, PSV, and PSE instruments most strongly correlate with (1) sector of employment, (2) preferences in public service decision vignettes, and (3) prosocial citizenship behavior. We find PSM, PSV, and PSE to be distinctly complementary, rather than competing psychological phenomena. Incorporating—theoretically and empirically—the three approaches into one topology suggests dimensions of an integrated public service psychology comprising two axes that vary on an advocacy–neutrality scale and a self‐focused–other‐focused scale. With this topographical orientation, public administration scholars can better select the appropriate instrument(s), whether PSM, PSV, or PSE, for the public service situation/question.

Public Service Broadcasting in the Age of Information Capitalism

This paper looks at two temporary phenomena: Information capitalism, and public service broadcasting. The crux of the paper is the question whether the ideal of public service broadcasting can survive the new technological and economic arrangements Impinging on broadcasting; and secondly, whether the public service ethos is worth saving, In view of all the shortcomings and Inherent contradictions within the system. To answer these questions, we need to clarify what we mean by technological revolution, or, what I feel is more appropriately referred to as "information capitalism". The paper will focus on what I see to be some of the key cultural, ideological and political questions thrown up by this new order, and how these changes may affect the present and future systems of broadcasting regulations and programme content. The paper also looks at what is meant by public service broadcasting, and how the concept has been applied in the South African context. It outlines some of the main crises to have bedevilled the system internationally, and focuses particularly on the somewhat spurious claim that public service broadcasting is politically neutral and non-aligned. After reviewing the criticisms levelled at the alternative to Public Service Broadcasting: Deregulated broadcasting, the paper concludes that the former is indeed worth saving, but only as part of the broader broad casting and televisual arrangements within a "mixed economy" which would include deregulated television arrangements

Dis/value in co-production, co-design and co-innovation for individuals, groups and society

IMPACT The traditional public service ethos needs to be challenged by including citizens/users in developing and improving public services. However, the often one-sided positive accounts of co-production, co-design and co-innovation risk public managers and policy-makers involving citizens/users when it may be inappropriate and/or cause more harm than good. This article explains these ‘co-concepts’ and suggests how managers and policy-makers should balance the positive with potential negative (disvalue) aspects to enable a more useful practice of citizen/user involvement.

Encouraging Public Service Ethos and Job Crafting in Public Organizations

This study shows that performance management systems (PMS), if perceived as accurate by public employees, have a positive influence on their public service ethos. However, this relationship is negatively moderated by task uncertainty: when activities are less predictable, such positive influence is reduced. Also, higher levels of public service ethos increase the employees’ propension to engage in expansive job crafting behaviors through which they try to increase both their resources and their challenging job demands, while they also become more resilient to hindering job demands. The results of this study provide new insights about the potential positive effects of PMS in the public sector and, more specifically, about how PMS should be designed and implemented to achieve them. The study was conducted in 12 Italian municipalities through a multi-waves research design.

The McDonaldization of Public Services: A Case Study of City Hospitals in Turkey

A huge-scale transformation and neoliberalization of the Turkish healthcare system is happening under the rule of AKP, and the city hospitals as a public-private partnership model constitutes the centerpiece of this transformation. The “effectiveness” argument is utilized both by politicians and financial actors to promote the role of the private sector in the management of public services as in the case of city hospitals. This paper argues that the McDonaldization thesis of George Ritzer can help analyze the transnational nature of neoliberalization of the Turkish healthcare system, and features of McDonaldization, most notably the irrationality of rationality through the argument of effectiveness can explain the transformative role of city hospitals in the healthcare system. Moreover, as a general theoretical observation, it is argued that neoliberal transformation and McDonaldization of public services lead to broader sociopolitical consequences by deteriorating the public service ethos.

After the applause: understanding public management and public service ethos in the fight against Covid - 19

ABSTRACT Covid-19 has led to renewed public support for public services. Frontline workers symbolize a renewed ideal of public service ethos (PSE), though little attention has been paid to how the public managers delivering vital services interpret and mobilize PSE. We show how PSE is implemented by public managers reflecting their local contexts. We examine the theoretical roots of PSE and challenges by newer theories of public management before illustrating its contemporary manifestations through three case studies of local government responses to Covid-19 in England, showing how PSE has been adapted in current contexts and continues to inform public management practice.

Why Media Systems Matter: A Fact-Checking Study of UK Television News during the Coronavirus Pandemic

Academic attention towards the effectiveness of fact-checking often centres on how receptive people are to the correction of news. But many studies do not take into account audience expectations of fact-checking or their engagement with news generally in the context of a national media system or its political culture. Our study makes an intervention into debates about fact-checking by focussing on the effectiveness this type of journalism has with audiences who were attentive to the news in the UK’s media system during a key point in a major health crisis. Drawing on a six-week news diary study (N = 200) during the coronavirus pandemic, our study concluded that the UK’s impartial media ecology and public service ethos creates an environment where audiences are largely receptive to journalists’ fact-checking and countering misinformation. Yet our content analysis of television news (N = 1259) during the pandemic found most broadcasters did not regularly challenge or question the government’s decision-making. We argue that since audiences favoured robust forms of journalistic scrutiny, broadcasters could more prominently fact-check claims and question dubious statements without undermining trust in journalism. We recommend scholars should pay more attention to understanding the audience reception of fact-checking across different media and political systems.

The interrelationship between strategy as practice and public service innovation and delivery: Academic history and evidence from Kuwait

Despite the rare use of the term ‘strategy’ in public and voluntary sector organizations, recent research has seen the use of both the strategy and strategy-as-practice concepts in regulating the innovation perspective within the public sector. The available literature on innovation, strategy, and service delivery within the public sector offers positive insights into forming a new concept of innovation within the public organization sphere. Using a systematic review, we aim to understand the integration of the strategy-as-practice perspective into the public service ethos to drive the innovation perspective forward. The review was performed in two stages, 855 documents were retrieved in the first stage that covered a five-year time span, while 8,620,000 documents were retrieved in the second stage that covered a twenty-three-year time span. We further supported our argument through a quantitative questionnaire with 93 respondents from Kuwait. The findings of the research indicate that public sector policymakers need to pay attention to the social complexity of their context in order to innovate delivered public services. Furthermore, policymakers need to adopt new innovative schemes including innovative strategy practices, digital governance, reform ethos, and mutual constitution in their strategies in order to ensure the innovative public services that are required by their communities.

Public service motivation and sectoral employment in Russia: New perspectives on the attraction vs. socialization debate

Numerous studies have shown that public service motivation (PSM) is higher among public sector employees, particularly in western countries. But whether these trends result from high-PSM individuals selecting into public sector employment or from on-the-job socialization remains subject to debate. We address this question utilizing novel panel data on Russian university students. Examining the relationships between PSM and sectoral employment both before and after students enter the labor force, we find that: (1) high-PSM students are more likely to prefer public sector employment; (2) high-PSM students are more likely to be employed in the public sector following graduation; and (3) PSM increases upon entry into the workplace at approximately the same rate in both the public and private sectors. These findings suggest that at least during early career stages, the association between PSM and public sector employment results largely from an attraction-selection process, rather than a socialization process. Our analyses additionally provide evidence that theories of PSM based on the western experience may generalize to the context of developing or post-communist countries, despite the prevalence of corruption and a less pronounced public service ethos in many of these countries.

Hybrid Organizations in Health Systems: The Corporatization of Malaysia’s National Heart Institute

ABSTRACT Health system reforms across high- and middle-income countries often involve changes to public hospital governance. Corporatization is one such reform, in which public sector hospitals are granted greater functional independence while remaining publicly owned. In theory, this can improve public hospital efficiency, while retaining a public service ethos. However, the extent to which efficiency gains are realized and public purpose is maintained depends on policy choices about governance and payment systems. We present a case study of Malaysia’s National Heart Institute (IJN), which was created in 1992 by corporatization of one department in a large public hospital. The aim of the paper is to examine whether IJN has achieved the goals for which it was created, and if so, whether it provides a potential model for further reforms in Malaysia and other similar health systems. Using a combination of document analysis and key informant interviews, we examine key governance, health financing and payment, and equity issues. For governance, we highlight the choice to have IJN owned by and answerable to a Ministry of Finance (MOF) holding company and MOF-appointed board, rather than the Ministry of Health (MOH). On financing and payment, we analyze the implications of IJN’s combined role as fee-for-service provider to MOH as well as provider of care to private patients. For equity, we analyze the targeting of IJN care across publicly-referred and private patients. These issues demonstrate unresolved tensions between IJN’s objectives and public service goals. As an institutional innovation that has endured for 28 years and grown dramatically in size and revenue, IJN’s trajectory offers critical insights on the relevance of the hybrid public-private models for hospitals in Malaysia as well as in other middle-income countries. While IJN appears to have achieved its goal of establishing itself as a commercially viable, publicly owned center of clinical excellence in Malaysia, the value for money and equity of the services it provides to the Ministry of Health remain unclear. IJN is accountable to a small Ministry of Finance holding company, which means that detailed information required to evaluate these critical questions is not published. The case of IJN highlights that corporatization cannot achieve its stated goals of efficiency, innovation, and equity in isolation; rather it must be supported by broader reforms, including of health financing, payment, governance, and transparency, in order to ensure that autonomous hospitals improve quality and provide efficient care in an equitable way.

Peran Publik dalam Mendorong Kinerja Media Layanan Publik dalam Mewujudkan Watak Kepublikannya

The publicness character of the Indonesia Republic Radio/RRI is both historical as well as legal necessity. RRI was born from the historical process as a struggle radio to seize and defend independence from colonialists. This true identity that is embodied in the spirit of public service ethos is getting stronger after the enactment of Government Regulation No. 11/2005 and 12/2005 concerning public service broadcasting and RRI public service broadcasting respectively. The duty of serving the needs and interests of the public must be the "spirit" which drives its whole operational activities of broadcasting and institutional governance. For this reason, various efforts have been made, such as improving governance and expanding the broadcast network area. To answer the demands of media digitization, the adoption of media convergence technology in the form of the launch of the RRI Play Go application has also been carried out. This has changed it from a public service broadcasting institution (PSB) to a public service media (PSM). Its public character as a public service broadcast radio must be put forward by placing the public as citizens (citizens) active participants both in the process of planning and implementing broadcast program content as well as media institutional governance. Through PSM, the interaction between media managers and citizens can be established. The process of involving citizens in the production process of media content is also easily facilitated. For this reason, their role in supervising and evaluating media management must be more substantial to ensure the public character of RRI. Based on this, this study aims to examine the form of public participation in supervising and evaluating broadcasting and media management of RRI. More specifically, what is the role of the Audience Council Forum Komunikasi Pemerhati of RRI Malang in carrying out this function.

South Korean’s fever for public service jobs and exam ronins: from a NHRD management framework

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to describe South Korea’s unique fever for public service jobs (FPSJ) and to critique it from a National Human Resource Development (NHRD) management framework.Design/methodology/approachThis paper reviewed previous studies, news and technical reports related to FPSJ and NHRD to connect FPSJ and NHRD.FindingsThis study analyzed FPSJ-related issues based on three areas (development, allocation and utilization) of human resources and four contexts (political, economic, social and educational backgrounds). FPSJ has led to multiple concerns about developing human resources (vocational education and career guidance), allocating human resources (the unbalanced supply-demand mismatch and flawed selection) and using human resources (delayed job entry and low public service ethos).Originality/valueThis study analyzes the challenges related to FPSJ in Korea from a NHRD perspective. Based on the analysis, this study recommends strategies for reducing the over-emphasis on FPSJ.

Corruption and the Public Service Ethos in Mid-Victorian Administration: The Case of Leonard Horner and the Factory Office

Abstract While the problem of political corruption in mid-nineteenth century Britain has been much studied, the experience of corrupt behaviour in public bodies, both new and long established, is comparatively neglected. This article takes the example of one of the first inspectorates set up after the Great Reform Act, the Factory Office, to examine the extent of corrupt practices in the British civic state and the means whereby it was addressed. It examines the changing processes of appointment, discipline and promotion, the issues of remuneration and venality, and the relationships between inspectors, workers, factory owners, the government and the wider civil service, and the press and public opinion. The article argues that the changing attitudes of the inspectors, especially those of Leonard Horner, were indicative of a developing ‘public service ethos’ in both bureaucratic and cultural settings and that the work of such unsung administrators was one of the agencies through which corrupt behaviour in the civic structures of Victorian Britain was, with public support, challenged. The article concludes that the endogenous reform of bureaucratic practice achieved by the factory inspectorate may even be of equal significance as that which resulted from the celebrated Northcote–Trevelyan Report of 1854.

Why advocate for public service media? Perspectives from organizations for media development

In this commentary, we discuss how five prominent media development organizations (BBC Media Action, Council of Europe, DWA, PMA and UNESCO) define public service broadcasting (PSB)/public service media (PSM) and how they envisage its role and functions in their recent projects and reports. In view of the increasing challenges of the current media landscape, international donors are looking at models to provide a path to independent media and journalism and several international organizations support projects and institutional arrangements they label PSB/PSM. However, given the fundamental questions that existing PSBs face, is PSB a meaningful tool for media development? And how do these various advocates for PSB/PSM understand the concept and why do they feel that it is worth supporting? We find that there seems to have been a shift, common to all five organizations, towards defining PSB/PSM in terms of public service ethos, and we explain why this should be seen as a welcome development.

New development: Expanding public service value to include dis/value

IMPACT For public service managers and policy-makers, value is now a common buzzword and its creation or production processes represent common approaches to service delivery. Increasing numbers of academic studies argue that public value is overly optimistic and premised on overly positive ideals of universal benefit. Two new terms are proposed in this article that both critique current approaches to public value and also expand the concept to reflect the complex reality of public service practice: dis/value and public service ethos. Public service ethos represents the idealism associated with the public value and dis/value accounts for public value relationships and experiences that fall outside of this. These terms are intended to further the conceptualization of value and also translate theoretical development into a language that both reflects and can be used in public service practice. ABSTRACT This article introduces two new terms to the public value lexicon: ‘public service ethos’ and ‘dis/value’. Both terms serve to progress the conceptualization of public value. ‘Public service ethos’ is used to refer to the prevailing assumption that the inclusion of service user voices in the delivery and improvement of public services creates individual and societal benefits (public value). ‘Dis/value’ refers to the public value relationships that fall outside of the public service ethos. Three service assemblages are used to exemplify this. These examples show that a theory–practice disjuncture is present, whereby the ‘public service ethos’ is not practicable based on its anthropomorphic focus and the consequent failure to recognize complexity. To overcome this, the authors draw on new materialist theory to reposition public value as a relational assemblage that can accommodate value in all combinations.

Public Service Motivation And Sectoral Employment In Russia: New Perspectives On The Attraction Vs. Socialization Debate

Numerous studies have shown that public service motivation (PSM) is higher among public sector employees, particularly in western countries. But whether these trends result from high-PSM individuals selecting into public sector employment or from on-the-job socialization remains subject to debate. We address this question utilizing novel panel data on Russian university students. Examining the relationships between PSM and sectoral employment both before and after students enter the labor force, we find that: (1) high-PSM students are more likely to prefer public sector employment; (2) high-PSM students are more likely to be employed in the public sector following graduation; and (3) PSM increases upon entry into the workplace at approximately the same rate in both the public and private sectors. These findings suggest that at least during early career stages, the association between PSM and public sector employment results largely from an attraction-selection process, rather than a socialization process. Our analyses additionally provide evidence that theories of PSM based on the western experience may generalize to the context of developing or post-communist countries, despite the prevalence of corruption and a less pronounced public service ethos in many of these countries.

Effectiveness of the Public Service Code of Ethics in Controlling Corrupt Behaviour in The Public Service: Opinion from the Grassroots at Toangoma Ward-Temeke Municipal Council

Ethical values are core elements towards efficiency and effectiveness of the public service. Tanzania adopted the public service code of ethics as a behaviour guiding tool to public servants against maladministration practices. The study intended to measure the effectiveness of the public service ethics code as a tool to promote good governance for effective delivery of public service. The study qualitatively analysed the status of how an ethics code may control corruption in the public service. The findings from Toangoma Ward in a study conducted from June to September, 2017 revealed that the principles of a public ethos are not adhered to due to the ecology of public sector that includes, under pay, weak monitoring and evaluation of performance and the culture of nepotism in the public sector. Therefore, these weaknesses have made the public service ethos to be a myth and a failure in the management and provision of social services in Tanzania. The persistence of corruption in the service sectors has continued to ruin and damage the quality of services. The study recommends that the public sector is to be overhauled in terms of promoting best practices such as good pay, meritocracy in recruitment and promotions to higher managerial positions.